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Mount St. Mary's to become home to large solar farm [The Frederick News-Post, Md.](Frederick News-Post (MD) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) June 09--Mount St. Mary's University will soon be home to one of the largest solar photovoltaic power farms in the nation. The Frederick County Planning Commission unanimously approved plans Wednesday to put 220,000 solar panels on a 135-acre parcel of university land. The approval helps pave the way for project completion, slated for the end of 2012. "It's nice to see this kind of generating facility come to Frederick," commission Chairman Bob White said after the approval. Constellation Energy Group is developing the parcel, and the state of Maryland will buy electricity from the system for 20 years. Under the contract with the state, the Department of General Services and the University of Maryland will buy most of the power. Constellation also has plans to build a smaller solar facility to generate electricity for Mount St. Mary's. Linda Sherman, director of communications for the university, said the farm may be the largest on any campus in the U.S. "We're thrilled that we were selected to provide this, and we're ecstatic about the fact it was approved," Sherman said. In addition to making the campus more sustainable, the farm will provide an opportunity for students to learn, she said. There will be an observation and classroom area near the section powering the school, and university students majoring in environmental science will also benefit from it. The $60 million project is expected to generate 22 million kilowatt-hours per year of electricity. The portion approved Wednesday will generate 16.1 megawatts of direct current, and the panels serving Mount St. Mary's will generate 1.3 megawatts of direct current. Because of the unusual nature of the project, the planning commission approved several waivers from county development codes. For instance, they modified landscaping and buffering requirements, so trees would not cast shade on the panels. The developer will still be required to use landscaping to screen the 6-foot-tall security fence with barbed wire, and preserve trees farther from the panels. The commission also approved waivers for parking, loading and bicycle rack requirements because the farm will be unmanned and visited only for maintenance. Representatives of First Solar and Constellation Energy showed the planning commission an example of a solar panel, which looked like a shiny tinted window. The panels will be accompanied by 13 shelter and switchgear buildings, which will connect to underground cables. The cables will feed into a new transmission substation, and power will be carried to the grid via existing overhead transmission lines. ___ To see more of the Frederick News-Post or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.fredericknewspost.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Frederick News-Post, Md. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544) |